The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-09-02
TALMAGE's SERMON.

/ TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Power Of tho Gospel shown b.
| Overwhelming Proof.
Faith the Christians Invincible wsspoz
h the Connlct-lGcrs Argument -
Nothing Before the Testimo-
ny Of Witnesses.
"Tbe Facts Proved" was the subject Of
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage's fifth sermon at
1.-THE Hamptons," the discourse being
founded on the following text:
We are witnesses.-Acts Ill.,, Is.
In the days Of George Stephenson, the
perfecter Of the locomotive engine, the
scientists proved conclusively that rail-
way train could never be driven by steam
power successfully aud without peril; but
the rushing express trains from Liverpool
to Edinburg. and from Edinburg to Lon
don, have made all the nation witnesses of
the splendid achievement. Machinists
and navigators proved conclusively that a
|
ocean: but no sooner had they successfully
proved the impossibility Of such an under
taking than the work was done, and the
passengers on the Cunard, and the Inman,
and the National. and the White Star lines
are witnesses. There went up a guffaw
Of wise laughter at Prof. Morse's
| proposition to make the lightning of
Heaven his errand boy, and it was proved
4 hok <t,o <I,;,,r ,o,,lI t,o
done: but now all tho news Of the wide
world. put in your hands every morning
| and night, has made all nations witnesses.
80 in the time of Christ it was proved
| conciusivelv that It was impossible for
him to rise from the dead. It was shown
| logically that when a man was dead he
was dead. and the heart and
| the liver and the lungs having ceased to
perform their Offices, the limbs would be
rigid beyond all power of friction or
arousal. They showed it to be an abso-
Lutte absurdity that the dead Christ should
get up Ave: but no sooner had they
proved this than the dead Christ arose,
and the disciples beheld him, and they
took the witness-stand to prove that to be
true which the wiseaores of the day had
proved to be impossible: the record Of the
experiment and of the testimony is in the
text:
Him hath God raised from the dead, whereof
We are witnesses.
Now, let me play the skeptic for a mo-
| ment.
"There is no God," says the skeptic, "for
have never seen him with my physical
eyesight. Your Bible is pack of contra
dictions. There never was a miracle.
N yvn kho
and the water was never turned into
wine. Your religion is an imposition on
the credulity of the ages"
There is an aged man moving in that
pew as though he would like to respond.
Here are hundreds of people with faces O
little flushed at these announcements, and
all through this house there is a sup
pressed feeling which would like to speak
out in behalf Of the truth of our glorious
Christianity, as in the days of the text,
crying out:
We are witnesses.
The fact is, that il this world Is ever
brought to God it will not be through ar.
gument, but through testimony. You
might cover the whole earth with apollo
giles for Christianity and learned treatises
in defense Of religion-yOu would
on the harmony between science
and religion are beautiful mental discip.
line, but have never saved a soul, and
never will save soul. Put a man of the
world and man OF the church against
each other, and the man of the world will
in all probability get this triumph. There
are thousand things in our religion that
seems illogical to the world, and always
will seem illogical.
Our weapon in this conflict is faith, not
logic; faith, not metaphysics: faith, not
profundity: faith, not scholastic explora-
tion. But, then, in order to have faith, we
must have testimony, and il 500 men, or
] 900 men, or 100000 men, or 100000 men
get up and tell me that they have felt the
religion of Jesus Christ q joy, n comfort, .
help, an inspiration, l am bound as a fair.
minded man to accept their testimony. I
want just now to put before you three
propositions. the truth of which think
this audience will attest with overwhelm.
ing unanimity.
The first proposition is: We are wit
convert soul.
The Gospel may have had hard time to
conquer us, we may have fought it back,
version is only an imaginary thing. We
know better.
We are witnesses.
There never was 40 great q change in
our heart and life on any other subject as
. on this. People laughed at the mission.
aries in NADIA i: ascar because they preached
ten years without one convert; but there
are thirty.throe thousand converts in Mad
asascar to-day.
People laughed at DR.. Judsnn, the Bap-
fist missionary, because he kept on preach
ing in Burmah Eve years without a single
convert; but there are twenty thousand
Baptists in Bur~ah to-day. People
laughed at DR.. Morrison, in China, for
preaching there seven years without
single conversion; but there are fifteen
thousand Christians in China to-day. Peo-
pie laughed at the missionaries for preach
ing at Tahiti for fifteen years without a
single conversion, and at the missionaries
for preaching in Bengal seventeen years
without . single conversion; yet in all
those lands there are multitudes Of Chris
tians to-day.
But why 20 10 far to and evidences of
the Gospels power to save . soul!
We are witnesses.
We were 30 proud that no man could
have hunblsd Us; We were so hard that nc
earthly power could have melted US:
ongels Of God were all around about US,
they could not overcome us; but one day,
perhaps at Methodist anxious seat, or at
. Prssbyter catechetical lecture, or at
aburial. or on horseback, power seized
US, and made us get down, and made us
tremble, and made US kneel, and made US
cry for mercy: and we tried to wrench
ourselves away from the grasp, bat we
could not II fnng MS fat and when ya